Pitch-lock for reversible propellers.



PATENTED 001'. 23, 1966.

\ 'B. N. PIERCE.

PITCH ocx FOR REVERSIBLE PROPELLBRS.

APPLICATION FILED OUT. 26. 1905.

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ll/l/I/l/l/l/Ain I WITNESSES: &

INVENTOR ,dwar Mm K A TTORNEI.

To' all whom it mdy concern Be i known that I, Bum NEULO p STATES PATENT OFFICE, BURT NE'UL'ON PIERCE, o'F INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR OF-ONE HALF TO CARL e. FISHER, or INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA.

FITCH- ock FOlR REVERSIBLE PRoPsLLEhs.

' PIERCE, of Indianapolis, countyof Marion,-

and State of Indiana, have invented a certain new and useful Pitch-Lock for Reversible Propellers and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference 'bein had to the accompanying drawings, in wh ch like nu-' merals refer to like parts. 1

The object of this invention is to provide an effective means forreducing the friction resulting from the end thrust of the sleeve or other means'emgloyed in launches and simif 5 lar'vessels for c anging and maintaining-the pitch of the ,propellerrblades'. The device I as herein shown has been used in connection with launches, and, so far as I am aware in such vessels the end thrust of the'sleeve, that controls the (pitch 'of the propeller-blades, has been resiste by nothin rmore than an ordinary bearing. In suc arrangement the sleeve for controlling the pitch 'of'the pro peller-blades is slidable on the ropellershaft, and therefore is movable mdependently of it. Heretofore, so far as I am aware,

this end thrust of said sleeve has been resisted only by the bearing used in connec 1 1 tion with the means for changing the position 3.0

of said sleeve and the pitch of the propeller.

Thechief feature of the invention consists in'providinglmeans whereby the end thrust of this itc-changin'g sleeve oritch-lock may be transferre to the prope ler-shaft. The result is that the bearing is relieved from friction and wear anddoes not become heated, whereas in the former constructions of-which I am aware the efiiciency of the device willbe destroyed in a few minutes'by the heat from, the great friction and wear resulting from the end thrust of the pitchlock of the ropeller-blades. This trouble increases with an increase of horse-power in the motor.

The full nature of the invention will be i understood from the accompanying drawings and the following description and claims.- In the drawin s, Figure 1 is a erspective view. of a propel er and shaft wit 'aportion' Patented-OM13, ie'o'e.

- are detail views of the propeller, its mounting, propeller for changing and means near the the pitch of the blades. Fig. 6 is a lan view of the inner end of the propelleraft with the associated parts for maintaining and changing the itch of the propeller blades, parts being broken away and parts being shown in a position oirest. Fig. 7 is substantially .the same view as Fig. 6 with my improved pitch-lock in a vertical instead of a horizontal position.- Fig.8 is a the device as shown in Fig. 7, showing my improved pitch-lock its operative posi tion.

Referring now to the details of thedraw- .ings shown herein, 10 represents a propellershaft which carries and has secured to it rigidly a block 11, as seen in Figs. 3, 4, and 5, which carries 0 positely-located bearing-pins 12, one on 'eac side of the pro eller-shaft.

some distance and near the propeller is'en- 3 central vertical longitudinal section through I 7 5 A sleeve 13 surrounds the prope er-shaft for lar ed to form a box, as shown in Fig. 5.

The sleeve 1 3 is capableof longitudinal move-. ment independently of the propeller-shaft, and the pro eller-shaft is mounted in connection wit tudinal movement whatever. In each side of the box end of the sleeve 13 .there is a propeller-blade14, having a bearing portion 15 that has bearing in the side of said box end:

and a plate 16 is secured rigidly to the inner end ofsaid bearing portion 15,with a vertical 13 will change the pitch of the propellerblades so as to reverse the direction of move ment of the fves'seland-make it go forward, backward, or neutral, as desired. Referring to Figs. Ste 8,. lever 20'is shown pivoted to I t e vessel so as to have no longi- I the frame 21iat 22 and actuated by a rod 23,

connected with the same shift' the purpose of giving to said s eeve 13 the longitudinal movement necessary to change the pitch of the propeller-blades. The lever 20, therefore, is provided with a bearing-box fmean's, for I or shifting collar 24, surroundin said sleeve and pivotally mounted in the ever- 20 by means of the pins 25, said lever 20 bein oked so as toextend above and below sai earing-box. Nuts 26 are laced on said sleeve on one side of said bearing-box 24, and a stationary shoulder 27, integral with the nuts 26, is on the other side of said bearingbox. The result is that longitudinal movement of the rod 23 will cause a corresponding movement of the sleeve 13. In constructions of the kind, so far as I am aware, this bearing-box 24' has heretofore had the function of resisting the end thrust of the sleeve 13, which is very great and in the course of a very short time will heat any box, and the faster the propeller is operated the greater its friction and thrust will be, and the greater the pitch of the blades the greater would be the thrust. The end thrust created by the pitch of the blades of the propeller in such prior construction is not transmitted to nor does it affect the propellershaft, but the whole effect of the same comes upon the bearing-box 24.

I have provided the inner end of the sleeve 13 with a series of stop projections or notches 30, (shown herein in annular form,) adapted to be engaged'by the teeth 31 of the pawllike levers or arms 32, fulcrumed at 33 in a pair of plates 34, clamped rigidly on the shaft 10. A spring 35 is connected with the two inner ends of said arms 32 and normally tends to withdraw the teeth '31 from engagement with the projections 30. The arms 32 are actuated in an opposite way to bring the teeth 31 thereon into engagement with the notches of the dprojections 30 by a sliding block 36, provi ed with an inclined annular face that tends to spread the inner ends of said arms 32 against the action of the s ring ing means.

35 and to positively hold the teeth 31 0 said arms in engagement'with the projections 30. For this purpose said "sliding block 36 is moved by a loose collar 37 surrounding the shaft. 10 and pivotally connected with and between the upper and lower arts of the yoked lever 38. This lever is plvoted to the frame at 39 and is'actuated at its opposite end by a rod44, connected with some shift- The idle position of these parts is shown in Figs. 6 and7, whereas the osition during the forward propulsion o the vessel is shown in Fig. 8. A stationary stopcollar 40 is secured to the shaft 10 to limit the movement/of the loose collar 37 during the release of the mechanism just described.

/ It is therefore obvious that while the arms 32 are in engagement with the projections 30, as shown in -F' 8, the end thrust of the pitch-changing s eeve 13 will be transmitted immediate through the plates 34 and will leave the bearin -box- 24 free fromfriction and practically i e, and this is the position of the parts durso that there wil y' and directly to the shaft-10 ing the forward movement of the vessel.

During the rearward movement thereof the end thrust of the sleeve 13 by the blades is resisted by said bearing-box 24 acting against the shoulder 27. This will cause friction as heretofore; but since the backward movement of the vessel is of very short duration and seldom ,occurs the friction resulting is of no serious consequence, for it cannot cause heating of the parts. The thrust that is thus transmitted to the shaft is resisted by a ball bearing. (Shown at the left-hand end of Fig. 8.) There a collar 50 is secured to the shaft with a facing 51, that has a ball-race for the balls 52, which run in the ball-race in the plate 53, that is secured from endwise movement by the frame 54. Hence with this construction there are no parts that will become heated by reason of the end thrust of the propeller, and hence there is no limit to .the continued forward movement of the vessel due to the heating of the arts.

I have shown a number 0 annular projections or notches in the sleeve 30 but no ar ticular form or number is necessary. t is better to have a plurality of them, however,

be no difficulty in getting the teeth 31 to enga e some projection. When the lever 38 is re eased, the s ring 35 will release the arms 32 and leave t e parts to operate in the manner heretofore common, and this is done only during the backward movement of the vessel orat the will of the operator.

The lever 38 is moved by a pin 41 on the rod 23 when the blades of the propeller are changed to a neutral backing condition. This is to cause the arms 32 to be disengaged from the pro'ections 30 simultaneousl with the change 0 pitch of the blades, and y operating a single means, for this must be done suddenly and without time to reverse both levers 23 and 38 separately. To this end the bea -box 24 has enough play before it actuates t e sleeve to permlt the pin 41 to move the lever 38 and sliding block 36 far enough to cause the release of the ends of the arms 32 from the projections 30.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination with a reversible propeller for vessels, a propeller-shaft, means for preventing lo 'tudinal movement of said shaft, and a-sleeve longitudinally movable on said shaft for changing the pitch of the propeller-blades, of a pair of arms ivotally mounted between their ends on said s aft, one end of said arms ad'a ted to e age and resist the thrust of said s eeve, a shding tapering block mounted on said shaft in position to, 12

preventinglcngitudinal movement of said peller-blades, of a pair of arms ivotally mounted between their ends on said shaft, one end of said arms adapted to engage and resist the thrusto'f said sleeve, a sliding tapersald shaft, and a sleeve longitudinally movable on ing block mounted on said shaft in position to spread the opposite ends ofsaid arms, a

lever for moving said sliding block, and a spring tending to spread the engaging ends of arms.

' 3. The combination with a reversible propeller for vessels, a propeller-shaft: means for preventing longitudinal movement of said shaft, and a sleeve longitudinally movable on said shaft for changing the pitch of the propeller-blades, of a series of annular projections on' the inner end of said sleeve, arms pivotally mounted on said shaft with teeth on one end thereof adapted to engage said projections on said sleeve, and means vfor moving said arms and holding them in engagement with the notched portion of said sleeve. Q I

4. The combination with a reversible propeller for vessels, a propeller-shaft,'means for preventing longitudinal movement of said thrust of said sleeve, a lever for m'ov' said shaft for changing the pitch of the propeller-blades, of means for transmittin the thrust of the propeller-blades from the s eeve to said shaft, and a single means for moving said sleeve and releasing said thrust-transmitting means.

5. The combination with a reversible propeller for -vessels, a propeller-shaft, means for preventing longitudinal movement of said,

shaft, and a sleeve longitudinally movable on said shaft for changingvthe pitch of the propeller-blades, of a pair of arms ivotally mounted in connection with said shaft and adapted at one end to engage and resist the holding said arms in such engaging position, a lever for moving said sleeve, and a single means for actuating bothlevers in chan 'ng the blades of the propeller to a neutra or backing position.

' In witness whereof I have'hereunto affixed my signature in the presence of the witnesses herem named.

(BURT NEULON PIERCE,

Witnesses:

H. B. 'McOonn, N. .ALLEMONG.

and 

